But how, exactly, does one develop a taste for fruit bats, or end up traveling the world to eat fried scorpions?

To better understand Zimmern's fascination with the unfamiliar, we sat down to chat about the five transformative dishes that were critical to the development of his adventurous palate as a lad. Spoiler alert: one of them is crispy stringbeans from a Chinese restaurant. So, you never know—even if you don't think you're that daring, you might be just a few years away from tucking into a big bowl of wriggling mollusks.

Around the Internet

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. He was 12 years old and eating black truffle soup with a silver spoon. 39 years later he’s a fat little butterball still eating with that silver spoon. This guy has to be the biggest no talent on the tube. And puhleezeee Andrew, at all costs, keep your flippin shirt on, no one wants to see your man boobs.